France edge Belgium in low-scoring thriller to make final

The first semi-final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup takes place on Tuesday, with France and Belgium set to clash at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Russian Federation.

FOOTBALL really could be coming home as talks begin to provide public screenings of the World Cup final in Portsmouth - if the Three Lions go all the way.

And now Sir Bobby's spirit lives on in Gareth Southgate's team - as Lady Elsie said he would be cheering on the squad "with every fibre of his being" when they take on Croatia in the side's biggest match of the century, taking place at 7pm this evening. "The main event has passed, Russia's victory, that's gone now", Russian Federation supporter Sergei Cherevko said.

"You don't want to watch it back but we know how important it was, going into the World Cup, that we had to go back through it to come out stronger".

The nation has embraced the single by The Lightning Seeds along with comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, originally released for EURO 96, and turned it into a unifying way of celebrating their team's first appearance at a FIFA World Cup semi-final since 1990.

Pubs and bars across the town centre will be showing the match and it is likely Friar Street and Station Road will be closed to traffic again, with buses diverted and picking up from alternative stops.

In a tournament dominated by goals from set pieces, France took the lead from a corner. "We have a privilege to get to the final", he said, before saying he was "here to write a new page in history". Even though they needed two penalty shootout wins to get to the semis, you can see that they are a team packed with quality and an enormous will to win.

"They've raised a very significant amount of money in that time and we're grateful to everyone involved".

The game will feature plenty of talented attackers and has the potential to be one of the most exciting games of the competition.

Southgate, though, says his side have not even begun to realise their potential. "I do not have the words", Mbappe said to TF1.

"I'm very proud of their mentality as well because I know it's not just that you are playing at a high level that you are going to score goals but with our state of mind we can climb mountains and that's what we've done so far".

And no matter what happens on Wednesday, Southgate insists their World Cup run is merely the beginning of what he believes will be a fruitful legacy.

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